A village pub has reopened after two months in darkness.

Marcus Pingriff (pictured) is the new landlord of the King’s Arms, Lockerley, which shut in February.

As previously reported, publican, Lucy Townsend, who also runs The Greyhound, at Stockbridge, had to close the business as her partner, Alex Lewis, had fallen seriously ill, contracting an infection which led to the amputation of both his legs and one of his arms.

Mr Pingriff, who has been in the licensed trade for 23 years, and has three pubs in Sussex, said he was approached by Punch Taverns, with whom he had had dealings in the past. “They told me: ‘We’ve got this gorgeous pub standing empty,’ so I came and had a look and immediately had a good feeling about it,” said Mr Pingriff.

“I’m confident we can reestablish it.”

The Kings Arms reopened for drinks only last Friday at a relaunch event with live music.

Mr Pingriff said he hoped to start serving food again this weekend and said the pub would offer “traditional pub fair with style”.

He added that he was looking for managers to take on the day-to-day running of the King’s Arms.